The White Day Massacre
by fireleaves
Summary: Valentines Day may be long gone, but the tradition lives on! It's March 14, and love is still in the air... either that or Inui's working in the lab again...


Hey guys! CS here, and withthe PoT fic I didn't even knowI was even going to make until a few days ago! (laughs nervously) Well I suppose I should get down to all the technical stuff so you can hurry up and (hopefully) enjoy the fic, so here we go!

**Disclaimer: **All copyrighted materials are property of their respective owners.

**Just a few notes about the story:** For those of you who are not aware, White Day is a holiday in Japan that is essentiallya continuation ofValentines Day, and takes place exactly one month after it (that would betoday, hopefully).Girls traditionally give presents to their boyfriends,crushes, coworkers, friends, etc. on Valentines Day, while boys return the favor on White Day.

As far as the story itself, I had planned on it taking place between the Yamabuki arc and the Hyotei arc, but in the making of it, I discovered that some aspects of it may make more sense if it was set _after_ the Hyotei arc. I'm going to go ahead and say the latter, but it could really go either way. Also, for those who have watched up to the St. Rudolph arc, I don't think there's any huge spoilers concerning the Yamabuki and Hyotei arcs, so come on in!

Okay, without further ado, let us begin!

**CS Productions Presents**

**_The Prince of Tennis_ in…**

**The White Day Massacre**

February 14, 2002

"Whew!" Kikumaru Eiji wiped a considerable amount of sweat from his forehead. "Practice was really tough today!" He made a blind grab for the nearest towel, but instead only succeeded in toppling over a nearby mountain. A mountain made of red and pink boxes, ribbons, and heart shapes of various sizes. "Ah! My chocolate!" Only through utilizing his impressive acrobatic skills did he manage to save the precious cargo.

"Nice save, Eiji." Oishi Shuichiro helped his Doubles partner up, handing him a hard-earned towel in the process. "But it'll be okay if you let some of them fall, you know."

"Nonsense! There's no way that I would disrespect my precious fans in such a way!"

Oishi was honestly surprised at Eiji's sensitivity.

"Besides, if the chocolates break open, you can see what the filling is, and takes most of the fun out of eating them!"

Oishi sweat dropped, then looked around the chocolate box-infested locker room. Honestly, there were so many pink hearts, boxes, ribbons, and other various articles of feminine paraphernalia that if they were to remove the urinals from the bathroom it would easily pass for a _women's _locker room. Laid out across the room were eight piles of chocolates of slightly varying sizes, each one dedicated to a Seigaku Regular, and laid on top of a wagon for easy mobility.

While some, namely Kawamura Takashi and Kaidoh Kaoru, received moderately sized piles, others, Momoshiro Takeshi in particular, had piles that were, quite honestly, larger than to be expected of, while others still (Oishi surmised that this honor was bestowed to himself and the other half of the Golden Pair) remained somewhere in between.

Momoshiro was helping himself to the surprisingly large pile afore mentioned when he caught sight of the team's current manager, Inui Sadaharu, scribbling down on his notebook just as he always does. A look to the side, however, revealed that the former Regular had by far the smallest pile out of the whole group. After seeing it, he couldn't help but to poke just a _little_ fun at him.

"Heh, too bad, Inui. It looks like the fans don't care quite as much when you don't have a Regulars spot anymore!" Oishi wouldn't have hesitated to reprimand Momoshiro for making such an insensitive comment, but there was a certain _glint_ that appeared on the corner of Inui's glasses that made both of them take an involuntary step back.

Suddenly finding himself desperate to take his attention anywhere else from the psychologically questionable manager, Momoshiro quickly turned to the person nearest to him, the prodigy known as Fuji Shusuke, who was eating the last of a box from his own pile of chocolates. While Momoshiro's pile was definitely not one to laugh at (at least for any reason other than it being big) it was clear that Fuji's was superior in size.

Momoshiro watched as Fuji tore off the card saying who the gift was from, looked at it, and put it in his pocket before throwing away the now empty box. "Hey, Fuji-sempai. What are you doing that for?"

"Well, it would help for me to know the name of the person so I can properly give them a gift in return… uh, what's wrong?" Everybody in the tennis club now looked at the genius as if he had just announced that he was having a love affair with an alien from the planet Venus.

"You're going to give a present to _every single one_ of those fans? That's impossible!" It didn't really matter who said it; the general idea was expressed of the faces of every single man in the room.

"They were nice enough to give me something, so it's only natural for me to give to them in return." Fuji didn't seem to realize that to the other members of the club, especially the other Regulars, his logic was in direct defiance of the very term.

Ignoring his comrades' bug-eyed stares for the moment, Fuji took the next box in line, looked at the card… and froze. Despite his best efforts, Fuji appeared incapable of doing anything other than gape at the box before him.

Unable to hold in their curiosity any longer, the Seigaku Regulars seemed to converge to the point right behind the prodigy's back, peering over his shoulder to try to see what had him so spooked…

_Fuji-kun_

_I hope you enjoy the chocolate._

_Your pal,_

_Mizuki_

Reading the letter put the other Regulars in much the same state it left Fuji (indeed, not even the team captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu, nor the first-year superstar, Echizen Ryoma, were immune, though the shock was barely allowed to show itself on the captain's face, and Ryoma simply pulled his cap over his head).

"Th-that's a little disturbing…" It was Inui who broke the long silence. With the exception of the 'little' part, his comment remained uncontested.

Though he was no less disturbed than the rest of the team, Oishi managed to realize that something was missing somehow… "Oh, Tezuka! Where's your chocolate?" Eager for a change of the subject, all eyes turned to their captain, waiting for an answer.

"…I had to ask my dad to take it home earlier in his car."

"I'm leaving." The group was spared from yet another long moment of stunned silence by the announcement from the first-year, as Ryoma picked up his case and prepared to leave.

"Oi, Ochibi! You almost forgot your chocolate!" Ryoma looked up at his personal pink colossus with no small amount of distaste. His pile was by far the largest and most impressive out of all the piles in the group (though that was now debatable with Tezuka's announcement), and understandably the most arduous pile to be even close to finishing. The poor boy looked like he was going to be sick just looking at it.

"I can't eat anymore of it. You can have it if you want it."

"Oi, Echizen, wait up!" Momoshiro took a box right from the top of the pile and tossed it to the young tennis ace. "Take this one just in case you get hungry!"

"Domo." Ryoma carefully put the box in his bag and walked out of the locker room, leaving the other regulars to decide how to divvy the load.

---

Ryoma cursed under his breath as he watched the sunset over the horizon. He had dawdled around in the locker room too long. At this rate, by the time he got home, it would've been too late to play a match with Oyaji…

"Ryoma-kun! Please, wait a minute, Ryoma-kun!" the long set of pigtails suddenly swishing to his side let him know immediately that it was Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter.

"What is it?"

"Well…you see…I just…" Ryoma impatiently looked between the stuttering girl and the rapidly-decreasing sunlight. _'Ugh! Could this _possibly_ take any longer!'_ Fortunately for Sakuno, the sun was set in such a way that left the tennis superstar unable to discern the reddening of her cheeks.

And fortunately for Ryoma, Sakuno could tell he was starting to get impatient with her. _'Okay then… it's now or never!'_

Before he could even react, Sakuno held up a box of chocolates to his face. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ryoma-kun!"

Ryoma was tempted to just walk away from the girl right then and there. However, that feeling was completely quashed as a nearby streetlight decided to turn on at that moment, allowing the young prince to clearly see her face in all its beet-red glory. She even appeared to be on the verge of bursting into tears. She looked so absolutely helpless and scared it almost put _himself_ in tears.

Not knowing what else to do, Ryoma snatched the box from Sakuno's trembling hands and sprinted down the road, throwing a 'Domo!' as he left Sakuno to fend for herself in the dark.

"Ryoma-kun…"

---

"Oi Shounen, you're late." Nanjiroh Echizen greeted his son at the door.

"I decided to take the scenic route home," was his only reply.

The father spied the box of chocolates at Ryoma's side. "Oh? I see you've been out getting chocolates, lover-boy!"

"A girl gave it to me on the way home. I gave the rest of the chocolate to the team."

Nanjiroh's smile only widened. "So what you're saying is, this girl is too important to give away her chocolate for, huh? Who knew my boy could be so romantic!" Ryoma took the chocolate and went upstairs, leaving the question hanging up in the air. Nanjiroh deduced that his comment was either right on the money and his son couldn't face the truth, or it was so stupid that Ryoma didn't think it was deserving of an answer. Naturally, Nanjiroh picked the former.

"Ah, my boy's found love!" The tennis legend could barely keep himself from openly weeping in joy.

"Huh?" he spotted something sticking out of his bag…something pink. "What's this?" without a moment's hesitation, he tore open the bag and unearthed the second box of chocolates, the ones he had gotten before leaving the locker room.

Gears started to turn in Nanjiroh's head. "Could the boy be in… a love triangle?" He silently played out the scenario in his head.

'_Perhaps… Ryoma fell madly in love with Girl A, and happily receives her chocolate. Then, Girl B comes by and offers her own chocolate and Echizen, enamored with Girl A, casually throws Girl B's chocolate with all his tennis stuff without a second thought.'_

"Ah! Poor girl B!" Nanjiroh yelled out, caught up completely in his own theory. "She'll be devastated when she finds out Ryoma isn't interested in her! I swear, that boy can be a little too narrow minded sometimes. He's got to be more open to other possibilities besides what he sees! There's no way I can let him make such a mistake…" He pondered on what to do before coming up with a most brilliant plan, if he may say so himself.

"I got it! There's no way I can fail with this plan! Now, I just need you to stay strong…" He searched the box for a signature.

"…Tachibana Ann!"

---

Ryoma looked up from doing his homework. He had just felt something, something very familiar. It was a feeling he knew very well inside a tennis court, and one he was starting to get very acquainted with outside as well.

It was the feeling of… impending doom.

His brooding was interrupted by the persistent sound of his rumbling stomach. Running in a dead sprint all the way home had worked up his appetite.

He took a questioning glance at the box laying on his desk across from his homework. He honestly didn't want anything more to do with chocolate for the day (or week for that matter), but the only other alternative was to go downstairs and deal with even more of Nanjiroh's nonsense…

Ryoma only took a moment to consider his options before finally taking a hold of the chocolates.

He first admired the box itself. Well, perhaps 'admired' isn't a very accurate word because it drew attention with its sheer simplicity. There were no loud colors, no lacey, glittery heart shapes, no obnoxious designs, or anything like that. It was just a humble, square box, held together with a single red string, the very essence of minimalism.

He carefully removed the string from the box and opened it to see what was inside. After spending the entire morning pigging out on chocolate, he could easily discern that it was homemade. Then, steeling himself (his stomach in particular, not only from being sick of the stuff already, but he now knew from first-hand experience that homemade chocolate usually yielded mixed results at best) for the moment of truth…

…All of his fears concerning the brown substance evaporated the second his tongue met the first piece.

Before long, Ryoma found himself losing focus. He quickly stumbled into his bed, his homework lying forgotten on his desk, and concentrated only on the incredible feeling in his mouth.

"Mada Mada Dane…" he said for absolutely no reason before falling unconscious.

One Month Later…

"What a beautiful Sunday Morning!" Fuji Shusuke said in between yawns. His eyes widened upon seeing the calendar nearby. "Oh, March 14! That means it's time to finally send these away!" He looked over at the pile of chocolates sitting in the corner of his room. He silently praised the fact that it was the weekend; even he had to admit that there was no way he could possibly deliver all of them and go to school at the same time. It hadn't been easy to get the money needed for such a task, but he knew it would all be worth it to see the appreciation on the faces of each and every one of his fans. "Well, I'd better start early if I expect to get this done by dinnertime!"

It had been a bit of an arduous task to get the pile of chocolates down the stairs, but it wasn't a problem too hard for the prodigy to solve. Shouting a farewell to his mother and older sister, Fuji set out on his journey…

A journey that was quickly interrupted by the arrival of a familiar face. "Yuuta!"

St. Rudolph's resident Lefty Killer approached the genius of Seigaku. "It's been a while, Aniki. I was just in the nationhood, so… what's with all the chocolate?" He gestured toward the wagon-filled delights.

"Don't you know what day it is? It's White Day!"

Yuuta gaped at his genius older brother. "You're not seriously going to deliver all of those by hand, are you!"

Fuji once again misunderstood his concern, just like he had a month earlier. "Don't worry, Yuuta. I have one for you too." He poked around in the pile, trying to find his brother's gift. "I didn't think I'd see you today, but I got for you anyway…here it is!" He pulled out a box from near the bottom of the pile, causing the rest of it to lurch onto one side ominously.

"Um, Aniki…" Yuuta didn't get another chance to react before the pile came crashing down on his head.

"Yuuta! Are you okay?" Fuji rushed to his brother's side, who appeared to have a very familiar looking box in his hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine…hey, this is…" Yuuta held up the box to his older brother's face.

"Mizuki." Fuji's voice suddenly became laced with steel. Apparently, in his rush to get all the names down for his shopping spree, he had neglected to dispose of the disturbing valentine, and it had ended up with the 'return' presents somehow.

Well, he could just fix that problem right then and there…

…unless…

"Wow." Yuuta was almost left speechless at the box in front of him. "I never thought that he would actually send it to you…Aniki?"

"I just had an idea. Why don't you go inside and make yourself comfortable while I go make some calls?" There was something in his brother's voice that made Yuuta not want to take him up on his offer at _all_.

"Oh! I just remembered I had to go do something important. I'll just check back on you…"

"Nonsense, Yuuta. I think Yumiko is making breakfast right now, so you could…"

"Uh…Uh…hey isn't that your captain down there!"

"Tezuka?" Indeed, Seigaku's current Pillar of Support appeared to be taking a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. "Hey, Tezuka!"

---

Tezuka looked up to see his team's prodigy calling him over, his brother quietly sneaking away from him, and a pile of chocolates at his feet.

"I don't want any part in this," he decided, and turned in the other direction.

---

"Hmm, I guess he didn't see me, huh Yuuta?" Fuji looked around, but his brother was nowhere in sight. "Yuuta? Oh well. I guess he really did have some important stuff to do."

"I have some business of my own to attend to anyway." Fuji took out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Hello? It's Fuji. I have a little favor to ask…"

---

"Hah! Phase One complete!" Nanjiroh proudly held in his hands what was quite possibly the most gaudy, loud, and blatantly tacky container he had ever seen. The large purple heart was surrounded by lace, with little plastic flowers poking out of seemingly random spots and a cute little arrow jutting through the side. To complete the presentation, 'Tachibana Ann' was written out in bold red English letters. "She's going to love it!"

Leaving the convenience store, the former Samurai tennis player commenced with Phase Two…and immediately hit a snag. "Wait a minute…how am I supposed to deliver this?" Getting the girl's address wasn't the problem; he discovered that the girl's older brother belonged to a rival tennis team, and from that point it was easy pickings to find the house (In fact, he discovered he wasn't far from the place right then).

The problem lied within the delivery itself. He now knew from experience that people were not very likely to just accept gifts from strange monks, especially the cute teenage girls. He could just leave it by the door and run away before being caught, but then he wouldn't be sure she would even get it. This was turning out to be quite the problem…

So deep in thought was the tennis legend that he almost missed the solution run right past him. Almost.

---

'One two, one two, one two…" Taichi Dan was just starting to finish his morning run across the city. The former Yamabuki manager had been advised by Banda-Sensei that he should start his endurance training as soon as possible if he hoped to become a Regular member anytime soon. He had even found a nice red jogging suit he could run in. After running into no small amount of objects, he decided to do without the green headband, at least until he finished.

"Hey, kid!" Dan turned around to see a monk was calling him over.

---

Nanjiroh marveled at the boy in front of him. The height, build, and hair was close to identical, and he was even wearing the familiar red jacket and black shorts. The kid could quite easily pass for his son… with some minor alterations, of course.

"Hey, kid." The boy turned around to look at him with a puzzled look on his face. "There's something I need you to do."

The look of puzzlement increased. 'What is it, Bousan-desu?"

Nanjiroh pointed out to a nearby neighborhood, down to a house at the end of the road. "You see that house?" the boy nodded. Nanjiroh handed him the box. "I need you to deliver this."

"But…wait--"

"That's the spirit!" Nanjiroh cut him off, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a familiar-looking cap with an 'R' stamped in the middle and put it on the boy's head, making sure it kept his eyes hidden. "Put this on while you're at. Now off you go!" With a not-too-gentle push, he sent the boy sprinting to the house in the distance.

"Phase Two…complete."

---

Tachibana Kippei blankly stared down at the cap-wearing young man in front of him. "Is that you, Echizen? What are you doing here?"

The Samurai Junior look-alike didn't look up from his spot on the ground. "S-Special delivery-desu."

"Huh?" The box of chocolates was thrust into the Fudomine captain's arms. "E-Echizen, wait!"

"Arigatogozaimasu-desu!" The boy was already halfway down the street.

Confused beyond belief, Tachibana took another look at the box of chocolates to see that it was labeled for his sister, who would be on her way to him right then. "Something's telling me," he began, looking back and forth from his sister's room to outside, "I don't want any part in this."

Leaving the chocolates by the doorway, Tachibana sprinted down the same way the mystery boy went, hoping against hope that he would be long gone before Ann thought to look for him.

---

"Kippei! Who was that at the door? Kippei?" Ann searched around the house, but there was no sign of her older brother. "He must have gone out. Oh well." She was about to retire back to her room before something caught her eye. "Huh? Chocolates?"

---

"Huh? What's wrong, Echizen?" Momoshiro looked back to see the unknowing man of the hour was starting to lag behind.

"Hmm? Nothing." Ryoma quickened his pace to meet with Momoshiro's, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to shake of that ever-lingering feeling of doom that popped out of nowhere.

---

Ann took the box in her hands and began to scan the exterior. It was certainly an _expensive_ looking gift (albeit a little on the tacky side), so she surmised that whoever the sender was, he certainly cared a lot for her. She briefly considered the possibility of the gift coming from her brother, but immediately trashed it on the basis of the gift having an obviously romantic theme. Then she began to think of Momoshiro as a possible candidate, but she sincerely doubted that he would have been capable of such a bold move.

'_Well, there's only one thing left to do…"_ Ann spied the sender's card sticking out from the arrow. She took it out, unfolded it, and revealed her admirer's identity…

The card had no actual name on it, only a simple phrase. But it alone was more than enough of a revelation for the shocked eyes of Tachibana Ann.

_Mada mada dane._

There was only one person in the world she knew who could so casually throw around a phrase like that.

"Echizen…Ryoma…?" Could the Seigaku superstar have been harboring romantic feeling for her? She faintly remembered sending him a box of chocolates for Valentines Day, but it had been of a purely platonic intent. Apparently, it didn't seem that way to him.

And then there was the mystery of the message itself. While it was true that it could have been just a clever attempt to make his identity known, he could also have actually been trying to give her a message. If that was the case, then there were two possible ways to interpret the phrase: it could either mean, "You're not good enough yet", or it could mean "It's not over yet". 'You're not good enough' made next to absolutely no sense in this context ("If I'm not good enough for you, why bother sending the chocolates in the first place?" she reasoned to herself), so it had to have meant the latter.

"Is he…asking me out on a date?" Ann considered her options. She didn't really like to date younger men, but there was no way she could deny the Junior Samurai's handsomeness either. And besides, it might be fun to go out with him, at least _once…_

"Okay then!" Ann finally decided. "Echizen Ryoma, you've got a date!" And she had a good idea about where to find him, too.

---

"Mm…" Ryoma moaned upon climbing the top of the stairs to the street tennis court. That terrible feeling in the back of his head had gotten progressively worse as time went on. By then, the throbbing sensation had gotten so strong that he could actually feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something was going to happen right there, and he was sure he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"Hey look, it's the Seigaku kid. You want to be the next victim?" Ryoma's suspisions were confirmed, as various tennis players were strewn across the tennis court completely wiped out, and standing on top were the eight Hyotei Regulars, showing various degrees of exhaustion. Broken rackets, broken wrists, and more than a few instances of broken pride surrounded the court, making for a scene that was not unlike a battlefield.

Atobe Keigo, captain of the Hyotei tennis club and the issuer of the aforementioned challenge, laughed heartily despite (or perhaps because of) the carnage surrounding him. "You guys just missed the tennis match of a lifetime, the likes of which that will not be likely to ever have to be seen again in our lifetimes!"

Momoshiro pounded his fist into his palm. "I knew we shouldn't have stopped to get that snack!" He threw his cup to the ground in frustration. "Damn you, milkshakes, you and your irresistible creamy goodness!"

Atobe, for once, was at a complete loss for words. "Um…okay then." He quickly regained his composure. "So, what do you say, kid? You think you're ready to take on the big boys?"

Ryoma took out his own racket and pointed it at the conceited Hyotei captain. "Anytime you're ready, Monkey King."

Atobe's smirk only increased. "Let's go the--"

"Ohayo, Ryoma-kun!" So focused was Ryoma on his would-be opponent, he didn't even notice the somewhat familiar voice with short red hair and blue eyes until they were right in his face.

Jerking back in surprise, the Prince suddenly found everything shift into slow motion as he lost his balance and fell backwards down the abnormally long staircase, two panicked voices calling after him.

---

Fuji walked toward the apartment complex, carefully putting a box of chocolates into five mail slots. "Five of them in one building. How lucky!" he took out his list of targets, finding three names and crossing them out easily, and finding the other two after picking the other half off the floor, and continued his journey. A journey that was once again interrupted as his phone rang.

"This is Fuji."

His icy blue eyes opened in shock.

"Echizen's in the hospital? I'll be right there!" He hung up, and began to contemplate on which route to the hospital had the most houses on the way.

---

The doctor looked with no small amount of concern at the boy in front of him. He was honestly starting to wonder what kind of tennis these kids were playing. The injuries got worse and worse, it seemed, every time one of those players came to his office. Sure, it started innocently enough, a sprained ankle here, a sore wrist there, nothing serious. Next thing he knew, players came into his office with dislocated shoulders, broken noses, and who knows what else! He was starting to fear what lied in store for these athletes later on in life…

"Well, it looks like you were lucky this time," The doctor finished his examination of the boy's right arm. "You don't have any broken bones, and a very minor concussion. I gave you a little medicine, so you might feel a little dizzy and disoriented sometimes, but if you can stand not playing any of that tennis for a couple of days, you should be just fine, as long as you don't strain yourself."

Ryoma looked at the doctor with eyes that were surprisingly dull. "Thank you." Without another word, he grabbed his racket and left the office.

Outside the office, Ryoma could make out the basic outlines of all the Seigaku Regulars (with the exception of Inui and Tezuka, oddly enough), Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter, his cousin Nanako, and last but not certainly not least, the reason he was there in the first place, Tachibana Ann.

He would have glared at her, if only he was sure which one of her to glare at.

"Are you okay, Echizen?" a voice called.

"I'm fine." he managed to answer.

"Well, it looks like you won't be needing this today, Ryoma-san." he felt himself suddenly separate from his tennis racket. He suspected it was Nanako's doing.

Without warning, he found his vision clouded with the visage of the beast responsible for his suffering. "Now that we've got that out of the way, how about that date, Ryoma-kun?"

"Date?" Ryoma faintly heard himself being echoed by about seven other voices as he was being carried away.

---

"DATE!" The Regulars weren't sure if they actually heard what they thought they did. Ryoma's cousin had gone off with his racket a few minutes before, so it was now down to the six remaining Regulars (as well as Sakuno).

"Ann…"

"Ryoma-kun…" It was easy to tell who was taking the news the hardest. They could only watch as Momoshiro and Sakuno waded in pools of their own depression."

Oishi tried to solace the demoralized Regular. "It's going to be okay, Momo…"

"No it's not, Oishi!" But his Doubles partner wasn't about to make it easy for him. "Ochibi's making the biggest mistake of his life! Dating the enemy is one thing, But leaving poor Sakuno-chan like that is inexcusable! We have to keep him from making such a grave mistake!"

"Tell me you're not thinking what I think you are…" Oishi might as well have been talking to himself.

"We've got to break them up!" Eiji gained a mad gleam in his eye that made Oishi seriously doubt the acrobatic specialist's sanity (and not for the first time). "Who's with me?"

There was a long moment in which Eiji just stood there with his hand outstretched, waiting for someone to join him in his asinine quest.

"I'm with you!" all eyes turned to Kawamura Takashi, who just realized that he's just spoken his first line in the entire story.

"Taka-san!" Oishi honestly believed that he was better than that.

"Gomen, Oishi-kun. But just look at those two! We can't just leave them like this!" Kawamura was right; Sakuno and Momoshiro at that point were downright miserable.

Kaidoh scoffed at the sight before his eyes. "He always looks that pathetic if you ask me." He patiently waited for the power specialist to come back with a retort about him being a snake. After a few moments, Kaidoh turned around to see his rival in the exact same state he was in before.

He cleared his throat. "I _said_… you always look this pathetic, _Momoshiro Takeshi!"_ He waited for a few more minutes, and got the exact same response (or lack thereof).

Kaidoh spent what felt like forever staring into the blank eyes of Momoshiro. He faintly started to notice the sweat pouring off his body.

"Grr!" With a growl of frustration, Kaidoh turned around with his fist in the air. "Alright, alright, I'm in!"

"Aw, isn't that cute!" Eiji said with a wink. "Kaidoh just wants his old nemesis back!"

Oishi sighed in defeat. "I guess I'll have to keep an eye on you guys anyway…" He _very_ reluctantly raised his hand up with the rest of them.

All eyes turned to Fuji, who was quietly taking in all to the information. "Hmm? Well, I'd love to join you guys, but I have some business to attend to, and I'm starting to get behind schedule! Tell me how it goes, okay?" With that, Fuji walked off in the distance, his considerably smaller pile trailing behind him.

"Umm…okay then! Gentlemen, without further ado, let us commence Operation: Break Up Ochibi and His Date right… now!"

---

"I can't believe my whole team left me behind!" Atobe Keigo walked dejectedly down the street. The other regulars had had enough of tennis after the little run-in at the street court and went home. Everyone, of course, but their nationally esteemed captain, who was still eager for a little fun.

When he caught sight of the cute red-head down the street, it seemed his prayers were answered. "Perhaps it's about time I cashed in that date that I've been hoping for…"

His musing was put to an abrupt halt when he saw the second figure. "The brat!"

Indeed, it appeared that Atobe had stumbled right in the middle of Ryoma and Ann's date.

A vein began to appear on Atobe's forehead. "How DARE you…"

"Atobe!" He turned around to come face-to-face with the older brother of his very object of affection. "Just stay out of this one."

"Tachibana…!" Atobe was suddenly taken prisoner to his own outrage. "you're not going to just sit back and watch all this happen, are you? Because I'll tell you one thing--"

"Just trust us, Atobe." He turned around once more to lock eyes with his eternal rival. "You don't want to get involved with this."

"You too, Tezuka…" Atobe took one more glance in the girl and her date's direction. "Okay, fine, I won't get involved. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up anyway…"

With that, the three National-level captains walked off into the opposite direction as the two 'lovebirds'.

---

"So…" Ann walked side by side with the Junior Samurai. "You want to get something to eat?"

"Sure."

A long pause. "Okay……where do you want to go?"

"Burgers."

Ann sweat dropped. "It's just like a guy to want to go to the hamburger place for a date!" She grabbed his hand. "Come on, I know a good place we can go to!"

"…For burgers?"

"No! For more formal cuisine!"

"…Oh." Ryoma didn't protest.

Ann started to get worried for the younger man. _'That fall must have really affected him,'_ she thought, noting the half-glazed look in his eyes.

Ryoma noticed her looking into his eyes and couldn't help but to let his cheeks flush a little from the attention.

Ann giggled at how the boy, while intimidating on the tennis court, simply withered under the gaze of the girl. _'He's so shy…how cute!'_

---

None of these bodily reactions escaped the notice of Kikumaru Eiji and his brand new set of binoculars.

"Nanjaro here, over." Eiji spoke into his communicator (also brand new). "I have a lead on the targets, over."

He heard what sounded like a long sigh before he got a reply. _"This is Moon Volley, I read you loud and clear, over."_

"_This is Hadokyuu, I read you."_

"…"

"Mamushi, do you copy?"

"…"

"Mamushi!"

A long pause. _"Why are we using code names, Eiji?"_

"Because it's fun, that's why!"

Oishi cut them off. _"Never mind that. What are they doing, Nanjaro?"_

"It's terrible, Moon Volley! They're holding hands, and Ochibi's blushing, and she's giggling…"

Kikumaru suddenly became aware of a faint whimpering sound in his communicator.

"…_It was a really bad idea to give Momo and Sakuno-chan communicators too, you know."_

"Well, what was I supposed to do with the extras!"

---

"We're here!" Ryoma suddenly became aware that he was in a large room, well ventilated, with random objects tattered on the walls and a pleasant aroma throughout the premises. Looking to his right, he could see a bartender serving up drinks, and looking to his left, he could see a television showing the latest sports scores. It was a place he knew very well from earlier in his childhood.

"American-style casual dining restaurant."

---

"The target has arrived at their location."

"_What are the coordinates?"_

"Quadrant Delta, Sigma 54-23.23872..."

"_Nanjaro?"_

"What is it, Moon Volley?"

"_I don't understand a word that you are saying."_

"Ugh, they're in that new American-style restaurant!"

"_Mamushi here. What's the plan?"_

"Hmm…let me get back to you on that. Over and out!"

---

"Hmm?" If Ryoma still had half of his wits about him, he would have immediately recognized the warning klaxons going off in the back of his head.

"What's wrong, Ryoma-kun?"

"Nothing." But alas, though he was slowly regaining his sense of self, he was still far from the normal Ryoma.

"Would you two like an appetizer?" the two children looked up to see their waiter.

"Oh! Okay then…" Ann carefully searched the appetizer menu for anything she liked.

Ryoma didn't even bother to open the menu. "Nachos." He had gone to so many of these places in his American days that he found he had the ability to tell what kind of food the place served just by taking in the atmosphere.

"Uh! Okay…" This obviously came to the surprise of the waitress, who was sure she had never seen him around before…

"Ooh! I'll have the soup!" Ann finally decided on her meal.

"Okay then…I'll be right back with your orders!"

---

"Come in, come in! I have a plan now!"

"_What is it, Nanjaro?"_

"Okay, I just slipped one of those plastic snakes in Tachibana's soup, and I rigged it to react to our communicators."

"_Wow, I didn't think you could do something like that!"_

"Yeah, me neither. But anyway, when I give the signal, Mamushi, I need you--"

"_No."_

"Come on, Kaidoh! Think about Momo!"

Kaidoh turned around to the spot where Momoshiro and Sakuno knelt. They were huddled so tightly they actually appeared to be in danger of collapsing into themselves.

"…_Fine."_

"Thanks. Okay here it comes. Ready…set…"

---

"Go!"

"Huh?" Ryoma looked up from his plate of nachos when he could have sworn he heard a familiar voice…

Unfortunately, he didn't have any time to think about it before he heard another familiar sound.

"Hsss…"

---

"Can I help you gentlemen?"

"Yes. Table for three, please." Running away from the plot had started to make the group of Tezuka Kunimitsu, Tachibana Kippei, and Atobe Keigo hungry. They decided that it was safe enough to make a quick stop at the new restaurant.

Yep, there was no way anything could go wrong there, could it?

Then everything went straight to hell.

"AHHH SNAKE!"

"HOI HOI! MISSION COMPLETE!" As Kikumaru Eiji ran right past the three captains, blissfully unaware of their presence, the nationally-renowned tennis players could only stand stoically as women screamed, managers tried desperately to keep the peace, and a man at least three times Tezuka's size picked up a barstool and hurled it in a completely random direction.

"We need to find safer ground," was all Tachibana said amidst the carnage.

"Follow me," Said Atobe.

---

"Nanjaro here! The mission was a success!"

"_You broke them up?"_

"…Not quite yet. They just decided to go somewhere else."

"_Where?"_

"Quadrant Alpha, Sigma 38--"

"_EIJI!"_

"They're going to the movies!"

"_The movies, huh? Looks like it's my turn, then. Moon Volley, over and out!"_

---

"Well…_that_ kinda sucked." Ann suppressed the shivers that tried to make its way down her spine. "I _hate _snakes!"

"Oh yeah? It just so happens that _I _hate getting hit by chairs." Ryoma was surprisingly quick with the retort, considering both his medicated condition and the fact that he had to talk around the nasty bump in his jaw to do so.

Ann frowned at the back-talking samurai…and burst out laughing.

Ryoma could only blink. "What's wrong with you?"

She kept on laughing. "Hehehehehe…Nothing. You're just funny, that's all!"

He blinked again. It was the first time, he believed, that he was actually _liked_ for making a smart-ass comment. He averted his gaze as he felt his cheeks heat up again.

"Mada mada dane," he muttered.

---

"Moon Volley here. I've infiltrated the theatre."

"_Are you going to the chick-flick movie?"_

"Yeah, and it's the only showing for the next hour. It's got to be the one they're going to."

"_Nice. So what's your plan?"_

"Okay, get this…I'm going to yell really loud and obnoxious things throughout the movie, and throw popcorn and stuff, and then they'll have no choice but to leave!"

"…_That's your big plan? Heckling the crowd?"_

"Eiji, not every plan has to involve potentially dangerous situations that could seriously hurt Echizen. He's our teammate, remember?"

"_Fine, fine. I guess we'll be there soon to back you up, so just hold your position."_

"Looks like I don't have much of a choice, the movie's starting. Just hurry up and get here so I can show you some finesse! Moon Volley, over and out."

Oishi hung up the communicator and waited until all the previews ran and all the people got settled in their seats.

'_It's Showtime…I can't say I've never wanted to try something like this…'_

---

"Oh…we're late!" Ann groaned upon seeing the play times listed on the wall by the door. Ryoma consulted with his watch, which confirmed that they had arrived a good thirty minutes after the start of the current screening.

"What do you want to do?" He asked almost a little too eagerly. Even with the medication clouding his judgment (medication that must have been in the process of wearing out, because the back of his head was _really_ starting to throb), his senses were still able to tell him that he shouldn't be too hung up about it if they couldn't get to see it.

"I guess we can still go if we're only a half hour late." Ryoma felt his eyebrow twitch involuntarily. "But first, I have to go to the bathroom. Wait for me out here, okay?"

'_Gladly.'_ "Okay." Ryoma _tried _to sound disappointed, but he didn't think it quite came out that way.

---

Meanwhile, Oishi was having a better time than he thought he would at being a jerk.

"WHAT! DON'T FALL FOR THAT, MAN! YOU KNOW SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU!" he bellowed, throwing over half of his tub of popcorn over into the populace.

'_Heh, if this doesn't ruin their date, I don't know what will!'_ He cleared his throat, sensing another opportunity.

"WATCH OUT! HE'S GOT A GUN!"

---

"Hmm?" Ryoma peered inside the theatre, hearing for the third time a familiar voice.

The next two voices, however, were coming from complete strangers.

"BOSS! WE'VE BEEN FOUND OUT!"

"THEY WON'T GET US THAT EASILY!"

And then the first shot rang.

---

"I must say," said Tachibana from behind his cards, "It was a good idea to go to your mansion. There's no way anything can get to us here!"

"Naturally," replied Atobe, as he looked across the poker table to the two new players the captains had recruited on the way to the mansion: Akazawa Yoshiro, the well-tanned captain of St. Rudolph, and Sengoku Kiyosumi, the luck wielding Yamabuki Regular.

"By the way," said Akazawa, "Do you think it's safe to go out now?"

Tezuka thought about it for a long moment. "Not even close." he slammed down his hand. "Full house."

He reached to collect his winnings, but was halted be the revelation of Sengoku's own hand. "Royal flush. I win!"

"You are a lucky bastard." Atobe commented just for the hell of it.

"Thank you!"

---

"Uh…" Fuji was sure that none of the guys would ever believe him, but when he handed out his chocolate to its next lucky recipient, she actually _glowed._

"F-Fuji-senpai…" Fuji almost feared that he would soon have to call a doctor for the hyperventilating young woman.

"Well…that was all that I had planned on giving you, so…"

"Fuji-senpai! I was just thinking…maybe you'd like to do something…together?"

"Uh! Well…" Fuji looked back at the cleverly-placed wagon around the corner. He had earlier lucked out with the presents when he stumbled into the underground Fuji fan club he wasn't even know existed (sure, he knew of the fan club he had at the _school,_ but he honestly didn't think he was so popular in all the _other_ schools), and consequently he was way ahead of schedule.

He turned back to the girl, and smiled. There was no way he could turn down a face like that anyway.

"Okay! How would you like to get some ice cream?" Another look at the girl gave Fuji the indication that he should call the paramedics anyway, just in case.

---

Alone on the train, Akutsu Jin sat across from Kirihara Akaya.

"Why are we even here?" grumbled Akutsu.

"I think the author just wants an excuse to put our characters in the story," replied Kirihara.

Akutsu snorted. "Moron."

---

"Ah, it looks like we're all here!" Eiji looked between Kawamura and Kaidoh to the entrance to the theatre. "You guys ready!"

"YEAH!" Kawamura and Kaidoh both pumped their fists to augment their affirmatives.

"Yosh, let's go give our buddy a hand!" Eiji slammed open the theatre doors…

…and was immediately slammed back by the stampeding crowd forcing their way out of the building. "Whoa!" Using his sharp reflexes, Eiji barely avoided getting trampled by the roaring mass.

The Regulars could only watch as the last person out of the building, the demoralized Oishi, stumbled to the gathering with his eyes practically glued to the ground. "I don't get it. I just don't get it."

"Oishi? What happened?" the simple question proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back

Flaring back to life, Oishi sent his burning glaze over to nowhere in particular. "What the hell is going on here! Why can't just one good thing happen to _any _of us!" Frustrated beyond belief, Oishi kicked at the theatre, and naturally the only thing he succeeded in doing was hurting his big toe.

Waiting until after Oishi stopped hopping on his good foot, Kaidoh turned back to the direction that the stampede went. "Well, I know one thing: I do _not_ envy whoever that gets caught up in all that…"

"Uh, Kaidoh?" Kawamura just realized something. "What happened to Momo and Sakuno?"

"…"

Kaidoh blinked. Twice. Three times.

"SHIMATTA!"

---

"Ryoma-kun? Where did you go?" Ann searched desperately for any sign of her date, but came up with not a single clue of the Junior Samurai's whereabouts. Or _anybody's_ whereabouts for that matter.

Taking a seat on a nearby bench, she sighed. Even though the date had taken a turn straight to hell no matter what she tried to do to stop it, she found that she actually had a good time with the up-and-coming tennis ace. At the very least, she enjoyed the boy's company and wouldn't have hesitated to go on another date with him, but after all the suffering he had endured that day at her expense, it was a bleak possibility at best that he would even still want to associate himself with her. True, it was a bit of a shame, but it just wasn't mean to be…

"Heh, what's got you so down, Tachibana no Imouto?" Ann looked up from her spot on the ground to see the last face she would have expected to at the moment. "Momoshiro-kun! What are you doing here?"

The Dunk Smash specialist gave her his trademark toothy grin. "Just wandering around. Oh!" an idea seemed to have popped in his head. "Hey, there's a really good movie playing in the room next door. You want to go catch the end of it?" he stretched his arm out to her.

Ann happily took it. "It's a date!"

---

"Mada mada dane…" Ryoma feebly cried out to the rapidly dispersing crowd in front of him. The Junior Samurai, it seemed, had been the afore-mentioned 'whoever' that Kaidoh found himself not envying.

Forcing himself into a sitting position, Ryoma was silently praising the fact that he _still_ had not received any broken bones when he encountered the fourth familiar voice called out to him…

"Ryoma-kun! Are you okay!" Ryoma bristled at hearing his name being called in that fashion, but relaxed when he realized that it wasn't the psycho that had put him in his current condition.

"Oh. It's you."

Sakuno nodded in delight at the young suffering samurai. "Come on, Ryoma-kun, we have to get off the street." She helped him to his feet and practically carried him all the way across the thankfully-empty road.

Though Ryoma's pride was a little hurt at having to rely on the girl for support, he wasn't about to argue with her.

---

"There they are!" Eiji pointed an exited finger down the road where the two freshmen walked. "This is it, guys! When we accomplish this last phase, the operation will be a complete success! Now that the two destined lovers have been reunited, we only need Cupid's arrow to seal the deal!"

"Uh…Eiji…"

"What, Taka-san?"

"All that's great and everything, but…" Kawamura gestured at his body, "What's with this getup?"

"You're the Cupid, silly!" Eiji was right; with the fancy pink robes, false wings and halo, as well as the bow at his side, Kawamura was almost the spitting image of the world famous deity of love.

"I get _that_ much, but I still don't understand why it's me that has to do this!"

"Simple," Eiji winked, "You're just the only person that _hasn't_ had to do anything all day!"

Oishi looked thoughtfully at the costume, the bow, and all the various equipment that had been accumulated by the acrobatic player throughout this entire asinine journey. "Eiji, how can you afford all this stuff?"

"That's not important right now! Look, Taka-san," Eiji showed the power specialist two arrows. "All you have to do is hit them with these arrows, and then they'll fall madly in love with each other, and we can go home happy, okay?"

Kawamura flinched as he saw the arrows glint in the setting sun. "I don't think we should use real arrows for this, Eiji."

"Alright, fine." Eiji reached into his pocket and revealed two spare tennis balls, and jammed the point of the arrows into each of them. "There. Now are you satisfied?"

Kaidoh hissed to himself. "Eiji-senpai, the odds must be really low for any of this to turn out the way you hope it does."

"He's right Eiji. In fact, the probability of everything backfiring on you is about 96 percent."

The group of regulars nodded, taking in the information…and then abruptly jumped approximately eight feet in the air after recognizing the second voice.

"Inui!" Oishi walked up to the data specialist. "Where have you been all day?"

"Running errands…" was the only response he would give.

"Hey everybody!" The group turned to see that Fuji had joined them as well, an ice cream cone in his hand. "What are you guys doing?"

"Ah, Fuji!" Eiji jumped at the chance to tell his good friend the details of his plan. "You see, Taka-san here is going to shoot Ochibi and Sakuno-chan with these arrows, and make them fall in love with each other!"

Fuji blinked. "Uh-huh." he spied the data specialist out of the corner of his eye. "Inui! Did you finish the…"

"Yeah, it's done. It's just a prototype right now, but it should definitely do the trick."

"Good. Well, I hope all that works out for you. I just have to make one last delivery, and then I'll be done. You coming, Inui?"

"Yeah. See you guys tomorrow." The group looked back at the retreating figures before doing a double take at the now-empty wheel barrow accompanying the prodigy.

"There's no way…"

"Impossible…"

"…" Eiji was the first to regain his bearings. "Uh, anyway! Quick, Taka-san! Take the arrows and shoot them before they get away!" he practically thrust the arrows into Kawamura's hands, and quickly backed up when he saw the familiar glint in his eyes.

"BURNING!" Pulling the arrow back on the bow's drawstrings, Kawamura took aim for the young couple with seemingly expert precision.

"Does he go into that mode just for holding _anything_?" Oishi wondered out loud.

"Take aim…and…FIRE!" he released the arrow.

---

"Can you stand now, Ryoma-kun?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Ryoma looked at the pigtailed girl with what he regarded as gratitude.

"I'm glad you're all right, then Ryoma-k--"

That was all she had the chance to say before the arrow impacted on the back of her head. She immediately fell to the ground, her tennis racket clattering on the ground.

--

"Heh. Direct hit."

"Nice job, Taka-san, right in the head! Now we just need one more and we're done!"

"Come on, Baby!" Kawamura readied the other arrow…

---

As Ryoma watched Sakuno fall to the ground, he found that for the first time in seemingly _forever_, he could clearly sense, every little strand of her hair, the fluttering of her clothes against the wind, the clatter of the racket as it hit the ground.

Staring blankly down the road, Ryoma watched the four figures as they stared back. One by one, he placed a face with a corresponding face in his still-somewhat-fuzzy memory…

"_Go!"_

"_Hsss…"_

"_HE'S GOT A GUN!"_

"_FIRE!"_

Suddenly, Ryoma realized that he was now face to face with his true tormentors. He could no longer place the blame on the Tachibana girl, for she was only looking to help the young samurai by showing him a good time. It was _their _fault that it ultimately ended this way, not her

When he came to this conclusion, something _snapped_ within him.

Taking the time to pick up the nearly-forgotten purple racket, Ryoma regarded the figure standing in front of the group, the one with the mad glint in his eye and the arrow in his hand, cocked and ready for release.

The two locked eyes. The figure released the arrow.

Ryoma realized with a pained grunt that his right arm was still in a lot of pain, and wouldn't possibly be able to return the shot.

That was okay. His other arm would be more than enough.

---

"Yes! Direct hit!" Eiji jumped to his feet in joy. "Even if he saw it coming, there's no way he could have avoided it!"

"You're wrong."

Eiji looked at Kaidoh with a confused look. "Huh?"

"Look. He's got the girl's racket, and he's returning it."

"Eh?" Kaidoh was right; Ryoma was right in the middle of a power struggle with him and the ball, and it was obvious who was going to win it.

"YAH!" Ryoma sent the tennis ball/arrow right back to its senders. If anyone had been caring to notice, they would have seen a faint gold aura encompass the boy as he did so.

Kawamura almost sighed in relief when he saw the ball land right at his feet, but the celebration was short lived when he saw the ball spin on the ground in a familiar pattern.

"A Twist Ser--" Kawamura was only allowed to say before the ball hopped back up and popped him right in the kisser, and then landed again, this time at Kaidoh's feet, spun, and caught him in the mouth as well, and repeating the pattern on both members of the Golden Pair before it finally came to a stop.

---

Off to the side, two Regulars watched in amazement.

Inui immediately found the perfect name for the new move. "Drive W…truly terrifying."

"That's our Echizen!" Fuji said, and then looked to the side where a familiar face watched the entire scene in dull amazement. "Yuuta!"

"Aniki!" The left handed killer had never even noticed his brother right next to him.

"Have you finished those errands yet?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Then would you mind doing me this little favor when you get back to campus?"

"What is it?" the look in his brother's eyes made Yuuta glad that he was on his brother's side.

---

Ryoma took a deep breath. He had taken out all his frustrations out in that one shot, and he had to admit it felt really good.

Taking one last look at his now-unconscious teammates, he turned his attention back to the girl before him, who was just starting to wake up. "Ryoma-kun? What happened?"

"Uh…don't worry about it." _'It's probably best if she doesn't find out.'_ "Can you stand?"

"Yeah." Ryoma once again considered his options. He realized with a grunt that he still had yet to eat anything at all the entire day.

"You want to go get some burgers?" Despite the throbbing pain in the back of her head, Sakuno still found it impossible to anything but to happily assent to his offer.

---

"Thanks for taking me to the movies, Momoshiro-kun!" Ann waved down the street to the retreating power specialist.

"Anytime, Tachibana no Imouto!"

"Ugh, get it right! My name is ANN!" It was to no avail; Momoshiro was long gone.

Sighing in defeat, Ann took the short walk back to her house. After shutting the door, Ann began to think back on her former date. _'I sure hope Ryoma-kun made it home safely.'_

Thinking about the young samurai made Ann look back at the box sitting in the corner. She was so exited about the thought of going on a date that she had forgotten to even try the chocolate. Taking the gaudy wrapping off, Ann opened up the box and unearthed one of it treasures. Taking a moment to admire the brown substance, she finally put it in her mouth.

She had thought that almost being forced to go out with that snob of a Hyotei captain would have been the most disgusting experience in her young life. She was wrong.

After washing her mouth out for the fifth time that night, Ann silently promised to never eat anything other than homemade ever again.

---

"Oh, Yuuta-kun! To what do I owe this visit?" Mizuki Hajime smirked at the sudden appearance of the Left Handed Killer.

"Mizuki-san…I have a gift for you from my brother." Yuuta held up the box of chocolates to the team manager.

"Hmm? Fuji actually returned my gift to him?" Mizuki took the box with no small amount of confusion. Opening the box, he took out a single chocolate and took a sniff. "Doesn't smell poisoned…" Throwing caution in the wind, he finally took a bite. "Hey…these aren't bad…I--"

Mizuki fell to the ground in a heap, only the occasional twitch letting Yuuta know that he was still alive. The box of chocolates, along with the sender's card, fell to the ground, the card landing face-up, revealing the message:

_Mizuki_

_We hope you enjoy_

_Special Super Turbo Charged Chocolates Platinum Edition._

_Your pals, _

_Fuji Shusuke_

_Inui Sadaharu_

_---_

"You gave him the chocolates? What about the pictures? They'll be ready by next week? That's excellent!…Happy White Day to you too, Yuuta."

Hanging up the phone, Fuji took out his list and crossed out the very last name.

"Shusuke! Dinner's ready!"

"Okay mother!" Fuji chuckled to himself. "Mission accomplished, and not a moment to spare!"

---

"Tadaima!"

"_And in other news, a local robbery at a downtown cinema goes wrong as shots were fired into the ceiling…"_ Nanjiroh turned his attention away from the news report as his son announced his arrival.

"Hey, Shounen!" The old man rushed over to where his son was taking off his shoes. "How was your day?"

Ryoma turned around with a glare, letting his body be a testament of all he had endured to the former Pro legend. "I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up." The young man climbed the stairs up to his room without another word.

Nanjiroh watched him with something almost resembling concern for the boy. "Gee, kid, I'm sorry things went _that_ bad for you."

He thought about it for a moment, and the concern instantly evaporated from his face. "Or perhaps things went perfectly for you after all, hmm?"

If Ryoma heard what his father was saying or knew what he was trying to imply, there was no sign of evidence for it.

---

The five captains could only marvel at the aftermath of such a chaotic day.

"Man,"Akazawa said, "I'm _really_ glad I stayed out of that one."

Tezuka looked down to his fallen comrades. "I hope this taught you guy a lesson."

"Hai..." they feebly replied.

---

The End

---

(looks up at the monster above) whoa...this must be like 5 times longer than anything I've ever written before. (clears throat) Anyway! there's only one thing to do now, and that's for _you_ guys to travel down and hit the review button...

...or not...whatever...I'm going to bed...


End file.
